Wild Rice is grown in streams, rivers, and around inlets and outlets of lakes. Seeding is done in early fall or early spring. Favorable water depths range from two feet (0.6 meters) to four feet (1.2 meters). Wild Rice grows best in water that has a slow current. Moving water helps carry sediments and nutrients required for wild rice growth. Moving water also limits the growth of other plants competing for the same nutrients. It is helpful to note that wild rice does not grow well in mildly acidic water that is low in mineral salts. It also does not grow well in water with sulphate or alkali salts. However the water should be slightly alkaline, with a pH of 7.0-8.0 and a conductivity of 100-250 units. Wild rice is grown in areas with soft-textured soil such as silt, mud, or ooze. Wild rice will also grow where the bottom is mainly clay, sand, or gravel. Of course we never use fertilizer or chemical weed control. The pristine environment is always protected. For this reason wild rice from northern Saskatchewan is truly a natural organic product.
Seeding is done either by hand or by machine. Both methods require two people. In northern Saskatchewan, the wild rice harvest usually starts the last week of August or the first week of September. Harvest is done mainly by airboats with collecting trays mounted on the front of the boat. Many types of air boats have been developed and successfully used. Wild rice patches are harvested five to ten times at four- or ten-day intervals because the plant heads do not all ripen at the same time. Once full, the tray is emptied into a boat anchored in open space or onto a tarp spread out on the shore. The wild rice is then bagged and tied in woven polyester bags. It is best to have loosely packed bags. A bag of green rice weighs 50 to 60 pounds (18 to 27 kilograms). Leaves and other debris are removed during the bagging process. Care is taken not to step on any of the rice.
Green rice is delivered to the processing plant as soon as possible. Bagged rice is transported by boat, truck, and in some remote locations, by floatplane. Rice delivered by floatplane or boat is loaded onto a truck in La Ronge and delivered to the processing plant.
Wild rice intended for seeding must not be allowed to dry out. If it cannot be used immediately it is stored underwater!
Wild rice processing starts with storage to help in the curing process. Freshly harvested rice has a moisture content of 30-50%. Not all freshly harvested rice is at the same stage of maturity, and it is necessary to pile it in windrows to allow it to cure. Windrows are watered regularly to prevent self-heating and drying. They are turned daily to prevent decay. It is during this 4-10 day period that wild rice acquires its familiar black colour and nutty flavour. After being properly cured, the grain is put into parching ovens. Parching removes moisture from the kernels and toughens them so they will not break so easily. The temperature of the parcher rises gradually to 350° C (660° F), and the drum of the parcher is rotated to prevent the grain from burning. The method we use in La Ronge is the continuous flow parching method. Parching reduces moisture content to about 7% without fracturing the kernels. The hull is loosened, pigmentation is completed, and the flavour of the grain is brought out.
After parching, leaf and stem fragments are removed by screening, and magnets on the conveyers trap ferrous metals. The hot grains immediately pass into the hulling machines where the dry hulls are removed. Both the hulls and the kernels fall into an aspirator that sucks off the lighter chaff. Once the hulls are removed, the wild rice is cleaned by passing over vibrating screens to separate un-hulled grain, stones, and other heavy materials. Once broken kernels have been sorted, the intact kernels are graded by size on a gravity table prior to inspection and packaging.